Rupee to stabilise very soon: Official
Kolkata, Aug 18 : The Indian rupee, which has been depreciating against the dollar on account of external factors, will "stabilise" soon with the fundamental equation for trade unchanged, an official said here on Saturday.
"This breaching of 70 (mark) was on account of external factors largely on what happened in Turkey. Our fundamental equation for the trade has not been changed. Oil prices have not gone up.
"The demand-supply situation for dollars in the Indian economy has not got altered... our perception is that very soon it (rupee) will stabilise and it might go back to Rs 68-69," Union Finance Ministry's Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Subhas Chandra Garg said here.
On Thursday, the rupee had touched an all time low of 70.39-40 in the spot market and settled at a record closing low of 70.16 against the greenback.
Speaking on capital outflow, Garg said: "There was an outflow of $9 billion in terms of portfolio investments in the first three months of the current fiscal and last year, we had a inflow of $20 billion. But in July, there was no outflow. In August, there is positive inflow of about $1.5 billion."
"It makes it clear that the episode arising out of Turkey essentially does not alter FPIs' (Foreign Portfolio Investors) perception about the investability of India. I do not think that will change," he said on the sidelines of a Merchants' Chamber of Commerce and Industry's event.
Garg also said that public sector banks, which are under Prompt Corrective Actions (PCA) imposed by the Reserve Bank of India, would do better going forward and there would be lesser requirement for provisioning of bad loans.
"Profitability of these banks will be coming back. They are expected to come out of PCA in the next 1-2 years," he added.
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Two women died, 6 taken ill after ‘consuming’ mango kernel gruel in Odisha
Bhubaneswar/Berhampur/Phulbani, Nov 1: At least two tribal women died and six others fell ill after allegedly consuming mango kernel gruel in Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said on Friday.
Consumption of mango kernel, prepared by boiling the seeds in water, was reported from Mandipanka village in the district's Daringbadi block, an officer said.
While one of the two women (Rasmita Pattamajhi aged 22) died on Thursday night at Mohana community health centre in Gajapati district where she was undergoing treatment after "consuming the gruel", another woman (Runu Majhi aged 29) breathed her last while being taken to MKCG Medical College Hospital in Berhampur, Gadapur sarpanch Kumari Mallick said.
Six others, who fell ill after allegedly consuming the gruel, were admitted to a hospital and their condition was critical, said Dr Subrat Das, a medical officer of the health facility.
"All the six have been admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. We suspected that they fell sick due to food poisoning. The exact cause of the illness will be ascertained after completion of the investigation," he added.
The six were identified as Pravati Patmajhi, Dranglu Patmajhi, Tuni Majhi, Susama Patmajhi, Jita Majhi and Jibanti Majhi, Daringbadi BDO Pritiranjan Ratha said.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government has rejected allegations that tribal people have been consuming mango kernel gruel due to a lack of access to rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Rasmita's husband Anil Pattamajhi alleged that they were denied rice under PDS for the last three months because of which his wife consumed mango kernel.
However, Kandhamal district magistrate-cum-collector Amrit Ruturaj dismissed the allegations, saying the family received rice according to PDS norms. "We are awaiting the postmortem report to determine the facts," the collector added.
Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida, who is also in-charge of the women and child development department said, "It is not a case of malnutrition. Mango kernel is part of their (tribal) regular diet. Sometime, the mango kernels get contaminated and lead to such unfortunate incidents. We have been actively spreading awareness about the risks of food contamination."
Health and family welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling, who ordered a departmental inquiry into the death of two tribal women, said a team from the district headquarters hospital and another local team are at the spot to assess the situation and conduct a detailed probe into the incident.
Mahaling said that the government was waiting for the postmortem report for a confirmation on the cause of the deaths. "People in Kandhamal consume mango kernel. It is common in that region and there also have been reports of health complications linked to it in the past," he said.
The Kandhmal incident reminds a similar tragedy involving mango kernel deaths in Kashipur block of Rayagada district, where at least 20 people died in 2001, and two more succumbed to mango kernel consumption in 2016. Additionally, mango kernel has claimed lives in Laxmipur in Koraput district in 2012 and 2013, as well as in Jharigaon in Nabarangpur district in 2018.
